True Life
by itachisgurl93
Summary: The Saijo family decided to take a vacation at the Fuwa Inn in Kyoto for a much needed break and family time. They never imagined that they would find their dead son's only child. How will the Entertainment World of Japan react to the news that plain Kyoko is not to plain? How will the males after her attention react? Kyoko/Ren Kanae/?


Disclaimer: I don't own Skip Beat

Summary: The Saijo family decided to take a vacation at the Fuwa Inn in Kyoto for a much needed break and family time. They never imagined that they would find their dead son's only child. How will the Entertainment World of Japan react to the news that plain Kyoko is not to plain? How will the males after her attention react?

Pairings: Kyoko\Ren(?), Kanae/(?)

"Yay"- Speech

_'Yay'_-Thought

~!~!~!~~~!~!~!~!~!~!~~!~!~!~!~!~~~!~!~!~!~!~

Chapter 1: Discovery

Mogami Kyoko had always been told that her mother was the only family that she had. That she had nowhere else to go. However that wasn't true. In fact she had, on her fathers side, a grandfather, a grandmother, an uncle, an aunt, and cousins. But never was she told this. They too, never knew about, that is until her sixth birthday, when her mother left her with the Fuwa's and they decided to have a holiday in the Fuwa's inn.

It was her sixth birthday. It was supposed to be the happiest day of the year for her, it was even the day of Christmas, but it was a very sad day for her. She woke up this morning to an empty house. Kyoko went around the entire house looking for her mother, what she found instead was a note telling patient her that Saena, her mother, left and that she was to start living with the Fuwa family in their inn.

So here she was, with the Fuwa's, her eyes red and puffy. She had been crying since the morning and now it was about 1430 hours, and she decided that it was time she stopped crying. Kyoko knew deep in her heart and mind that this was bound to happen. she knew that her mother was far from the most ideal mother...or person. Kyoko sniffled, wiped her eyes in her sleeves, and got up off the floor. She couldn't let this get her down, she couldn't disappoint the Master, the Okami, and definitely not her Sho-chan. There apparently was a wealthy family coming to stay at the inn. She had to go help Okami-san as much as she could. She couldn't allow the Fuwa's to believe that she was worthless as well. No. She would stop crying and do her best to help out like always.

Nodding to herself, Kyoko stood up and went to the bathroom. There was no way that she could face customers if her face looked anything like what she imagined it might. Kyoko slide the bathroom door in her new room open and went and stood on the little stool placed, there so she could see her face properly in the mirror. She was right, she looked like a mess. Her eyes were red and puffy, she had snot still running away from her nose, and her entire face looked as if she was out in the sun too long. Kyoko shook her head, there was no way she could go out looking like this.

She got off her stool, and went back out into her room. She got a change of clothes and went back into the bathroom, turning the shower on the the cold position to cool her down. She stripped herself of her clothes, put them in the hamper, and walked blindly into the cold shower.

Shivering as the cold water hit her bare skin, she forced her body to calm down and not yelp at the cold. Fortunately the cold water was helping. Kyoko could feel the heat leaving her body and a cool feeling was wash over. She quickly turned off the shower, scrubbed herself down and shampooed her hair. Leaving the shampoo in, she focused on washing her face with the lavender smelling soap.

With sigh Kyoko, took a deep breath, turned shower back on and dunked her head underneath the pounding water. She slowly eased the shampoo out of her hair and rinsed off her body. She repeated the steps over again as the shampoo ran down her body. Once all the soap and shampoo was off of her body she turned the shower off and quickly patted herself down with a towel. She tied that towel around her hair and stepped out of the bathroom, she quickly put on her underwear, and tied the robe around her waist.

Kyoko left the bathroom and head towards her closet, she took out a pretty pink kimono with a lavender obi. She nodded her head in appreciation, it was such a beautiful kimono. The Okami had given it to her as a gift last Christmas, it was pretty amazing that she still fit into it. Then again...she was always small, no, she thought shaking her head, she would get taller, she had to, she couldn't bare to think of a life where she stayed so tiny as Sho-chan got taller and taller. Yep, she would stick to a strict diet of good healthy Japanese food, as many jumping/hanging sports as she could to get taller. She nodded her head once again and started put on her kimono.

A few minutes later she was down, the darn obi had taken longer than she thought it would. Now all she had to do was finish drying her hair and tie it up. Thankfully she had a little girls hairdryer in the bathroom, as she headed towards the bathroom, she stopped. '_Hold on_,' she thought, '_if I dry my hair with a hairdryer now, __I__ might get all hot and sweat...which would mean __I__ would have to take a shower again.__'_

No! She screamed in her mind! There was no way that she was going to take a shower again. If she did she would be late without a doubt! No. She would let her hair dry normally, she would just take three small pieces of hair and braid it so that her hair would stay out of her face. And that is what she did. Once she looked in the mirror and made sure that she didn't look like a train wreck, she left her room and headed towards the front of the inn. She had to move quickly so she could help out the Okami and other workers.

Kyoko finally reached the rest of the inn family and bowed in greeting. The rest returned the bow hesitantly...was Kyoko supposed to be up right now? They didn't want her to help. Not that they did not appreciate it, no, it was mostly because they were too worried about her and how she felt. They cared too much about her to let her work if she didn't feel well herself.

"Kyoko-chan...are you alright?"

She just turned to them and smiled, "Of course I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?"

They stared at her, "No reason, just wondering." The male replied unsure of what else to say to her. The others around him just nodded. If she was going to deny, so were they, at least for now.

They turned back and faced the front, for now they had to appear as if everything was ok and in order. The incoming client was after all very prominent and wealthy. They had to put on their game faces and make sure no one noticed that something was off. They would put off their confrontation of Kyoko til later when the guests were asleep. There was no reason let guest to know about an internal issue.

All the workers snapped to attention when they heard the first door slide open. Their special guests had arrived, the women checked to make sure their kimonos were correctly placed and not wrinkled in any place. They quickly fixed any mistake they saw and snapped straight back into alteration.

Kyoko herself was very curious as to who these people could be. Never before had she seen the other workers so uptight about someone coming. This was the first time everyone looked forward to a customer, were these people really that important?This was Kyoko couldn't want to find out, no matter what anyone else said, she was a very curious person, though she kept that to herself.

The door slid open and instinctively everyone bowed in greeting, "Welcome to Fuwa Inn, Master."

Okami-san stopped forward and bowed once again in greeting, "Good morning, I am Kumiko, I am the head hostess this inn. Behind me are our workers, please follow, Erika to your rooms."

Kyoko daringly lifted her head, she let out a little gasp, before her were some of the prettiest people had ever seen. Well the women were the prettiest, but men were also very handsome. The first person she saw was an older man, probably a grandpa, but he too was very handsome. If you didn't know where to look one probably wouldn't be able see the small amount of wrinkles that were on his face especially around his eyes and lips.

Beside him was a pretty grandma, probably his wife. Her slightly graying hair was pulled up into a bun. She was wearing a matching green and white kimono like her husband. Behind them were probably their children and their children-in-laws. There were also some kids about her age, of course there were some that were younger than her, if only about a year or two. Though there was one that was probably a few years older than her. He was very pretty too, kinda like Corn her fairy prince...though Corn was much prettier there was no doubt about that.

Kyoko clenched her tiny fists, if only Corn was still here, she could talk to him and tell him all about her problems. She could tell her fairy prince what her Hahaue had done, how she had abandoned Kyoko on her birthday. How she didn't even say good bye, just gave a letter, and not even to her but to Sho-chan's parents. She would tell him how she felt, that she believed that she as no worthless, after all if her own mother didn't want her...who would? Sooner or later the Fuwa's would leave her too, well...they'd probably kick her out, since this was their home/place of business.

Kyoko shook her head, no, she couldn't think about such things right now. She had to make sure the guests were happy. Kyoko nodded to herself and returned to looking at the rest o f the guests. They all were, be it traditionally or modernly, pretty. And from what she could tell, they were very rich too. Her gaze slowly drifted back to the grandfather, probably the head of the house, since everyone else was seated behind him. Her eyes widened a little when he caught her gaze, he had the same color eyes that she did, and apparently, he saw that too. Quickly Kyoko dropped her gaze, hoping that she hadn't done something wrong and offended the guest because she knew for a fact that he just glared at her.

~!~~!~!~~~!~~!~

Saijo Ryousuke was a happy, content and patient person...well, happy, content and patient enough for a person in his position. Sure there were plenty of things to be tensed about, but for Christmas he decided that his family and himself would not be stressed by anything, that they would spend their much needed family time together. And the Fuwa Inn was a good way to do so. Ryousuke looked around, really, the pictures that he saw of this place did it no justice, it really was an enticing and exquisite piece of architecture, but it was probably the homely, warm feel that made it so popular.

Ryousuke looked at the staff in front of him. It was also said that this Inn had some of the most nice, respectable and funny staff, they all came highly commended. As he looked on, he saw that there was a gap between a man and a woman, confused he tried to figure out and there was such a large gap between them. Did they not get along? His questions however stopped once he looked down, his eyes caught in the gaze of a golden stare oh so similar to his own. Ryousuke's eyes narrowed, those eyes, they were the exact pair that his first born had. Could this little girl be...?

Suspicious, Ryousuke walked towards the little girl, who for some reason frightened had turned her gaze away from him. He kneeled down in front of her, he could see out of his peripherals that the staff around them. And his family were tense, having no clue what was happening.

"Little Miss, look at me," he sound in a kind tone, though it came out rather rough sounding, if her flinch was anything to go by. He tried again when she hadn't raised her head, "Little Miss."

Slowly the girl lifted her head and looked at him square in the eyes, her defiant, stubborn side shining through, so much like Makoto, before she averted her gaze. His suspicions were slowly being confirmed.

"Little Miss, what is your name?"

"Mogami Kyoko," a soft voice answered him. Mogami? Another piece of evidence.

"Kyoko? That's a cute name. How about your mother whats her name?" Though the question was meant to be innocent, he knew something was up by the way she tensed up, as well as the staff around her. He probably shouldn't ask her and just ask the Okami but he just had to know now.

"Kyoko-chan?"

"Yamamoto Saena."

Gasps ran through the room as Ryousuke's eyes narrowed once again, that was the name of the woman his son had said he'd marry. He only needed one more question answered, and if she answered the way he hope she would, well, things were going to change.

"And your fathers name?"

Kyoko clearly hesitated, "Hahaue told me never to say his name."

"Well your Hahaue isn't here right now is she? Trust me. She'll never have to know."

Kyoko still looked unsure, slowly she peeked over to Sho's mother, asking her for permission, Kumiko nodded, "Mogami...Makoto."

Something hit the floor behind him, and from the soft, starting sobbing that he heard, it was with out a doubt his wife. But he couldn't blame her, no,if he was her, he too would break down into tears. But he couldn't, not now, not yet. He still had things to do to right this wrong.

"Kyoko-chan, where is your mother?"

The beautiful little girl in front of him froze, just before her shoulders started to shake. Tiny droplets of water hit the floor beneath them. She was crying. Now Ryousuke as even more confused, why was she crying, and why wasn't her mother with her, not to mention why the hell was she in an inn in the first place?

Before he could press on, the Okami intervened, "Kyoko-chan why don't you go to your room ok? Take the day off and rest, today is your birthday."

The little girl nodded, bowed a deep traditional bow, and ran the other way. Ryousuke got up and turned to the Okami, "We need to talk."

The suspicious and cautious Hostess nodded her head and motioned for the Saijo head to follow her.

"Girls, show the rest of our guests to their rooms."

"Yes Madam."

Kumiko nodded her head in thanks and walked away, the Saijo head and his wife, not one to be left out of this conversation, especially one that concerned a possible grandchild, following close behind her.

Kumiko walked to her and her husband's living room, no one would bother them that way. She slide open the door and motioned for her guests to go in. Ryousuke and Aiko walked, sat in a chair and waited for Kumiko to come and sit.

As Kumiko closed the door, she wondered what it was that the Saijo would want to talk about. She had a great feeling that it had to be about Kyoko and probably something to do with Kyoko's father. Now that she thought about it, the Saijo patriarch did look like Makoto. She had seen a picture of him when she went over to Saena's house...before she decided to rip his head of the photograph, that is. There was also the fact that kanji that made Mogami written in Hiragana was read as Saijo. She took a deep breath and went to sit down in front of one of the most powerful couples in Asia.

They held their gazes with each other for a while before Kumiko couldn't take it anymore and blurted out what she thought.

"Makoto-san's your son, isn't he? I saw a picture of his once in Saena's house. He looks like you."

Saijo Ryousuke held his gaze a little longer, searching her eyes for any possible way of deception, before he closed his eyes and nodded in conformation. Even if he didn't want to believe it, the proof had been right in front of him and his family. Proof that there was still something in this world that remained of their beloved son. Something-no someone- that should have been with them from the beginning, someone who should have been treated like the princess that she was born to be, the leader she was born to be.

He could see it in her eyes. The same will, the determination, the kindness, the strength, everything about her screamed Saijo Makoto. And yet her she was, working at an inn. The only child of Saijo Makoto, working at an _inn,_ like some sort of commoner! Not that anything was wrong with commoners, but ever before had a Saijo, especially one from the main family, married a commoner, much less had one of the many jobs commoners have, yet that little girl, his only granddaughter, his first son's only child, came from a marriage to a commoner _and_ the little girl worked in an inn. But even with those unfortunate circumstances, could stop that spark of joy and love that filled his insides when he thought of her. Though it was overtaken by the hate that filled him when he thought about her reaction to him mentioning her mother.

"Yes, Makoto is my son. But the really question is, where is her mother?"

Kumiko hesitated, there really wasn't anyway for this conversation to go but down hill, she braced herself, "We have no idea were Saena is. She left a note and disappeared this morning."

An intense rage fill the Saijo patriarch, how dare this commoner woman just up and leave his granddaughter? Had she no shame? No pride as a mother? No love or compassion towards that beautiful little girl?

His beautiful wife as the one that broke the silence, "Why?"

"I'm sorry?"

"Why did she leave my granddaughter? Is she not smart? Is something wrong with her? What? What is it that could have made that would leave that charming little girl?"

Kumiko looked straight into the eyes of the woman in front of her, "No ma'am, there is nothing wrong with that wonderful little girl. She is smart, and kind, she tries her hardest, she never gives up, unfortunately Saena is-was to blind to see any of that. She pushed little Kyoko to do so much to always get full marks, to always be first in whatever she did, any yet, that woman would never even lift a finger to help her."

Aiko felt tears start to form in her eyes, how could someone just leave such a child? Aiko decided that enough was enough, she was going to take her little grandbaby home if it was the last thing she did.

"Anata, she's coming home with us. We will explain to her that we are her grandparents, that we didn't know about her, that we want to get to know her."

Ryousuke and Kumiko looked at her, Ryousuke was happy his wife had the same idea that he did, and while Kumiko was happy Kyoko would be with her family, she was saddened by the thought that she would have to let go of her little helper. Kyoko had brought much joy to the inn that it would become to quiet or gloomy without her there to make people smile.

"I agree that she should be with you, i think that if you were to take her away so abruptly it would only traumatize her. Her mother had just left her after all, if you take her away now, she might end up hating you for taking her away from the only place she calls her home."

Ryousuke nodded his head in understanding, "You have a point, but even still we want her with us."

"I have an idea. How about, she stays with you and your family for her school breaks for a few years. That way she can familiarize herself with you and your family. Then after a few years, if she wants she can move in with you. It would be better for her to finish her primary years here, then the junior high with you."

Ryousuke and Aiko had to admit that it was a good plan, they could spend time getting to know each other, and they when she was ready she would move in with them and not feel alienated or confused by her surroundings.

"Very well. We shall do it that way. Tonight when the dinner is sent in please bring her along. I would like to get to know my granddaughter as soon as possible."

"As you wish. If you'll excuse me, I have some staff that are no doubt wondering themselves to sickness."

Kumiko stood up from her chair bowed and held the door open for her guests, "Now please follow me to your room."

The Saijo couple stood and walked out the door. They couldn't wait for tonight, they were willing to wait until then so Kyoko would be able to have so time to herself to calm down. They wanted her to know that she wasn't alone in this world, that she had family that wanted her, but they knew that if they didn't give her some space so she could compose herself, whatever they said to flow into one ear and out the other. It was the same with all humans, when something big happens to you, you tend to forget about everything else and all your senses become seemingly nonexistent. Yes, it was best to wait til tonight.

XXXXX

It was 1900(7:00 pm) when the food came in. The family was sitting around and talking, once the dorrs opened the room became quiet as each of them watched as Kyoko walked into the room. She fidgeted feeling the heavy stares of the people in the room.

She didn't know why the Okami had asked her to go to the room with her. Had she done something wrong? Did the guests think her behavior from earlier was disrespectful? Her face started to go red with all the worrying she was doing.

"Kyoko-chan? Calm down, nothing bad is going to happen to you."

She looked at the woman who had just spoken, it was the pretty grandma, slowly as if instinctively knowing what Aiko had said was the truth, Kyoko relaxed, but she was still on guard.

"Kyoko-chan why don't you come her and sit. We would like to speak with you." This time is was the grandpa who had spoken. Kyoko looked to Kumiko for conformation, and when she nodded, Kyoko slowly made her way and sat in the space provided for her between the man and his wife.

Kyoko watched as the two elders exchanged looks, then a long stare at one another before the both turned to look down at Kyoko.

"Kyoko-chan, we are going to tell you something. We need for you to hear us out until the end and you can ask your questions afterwards ok?"

Kyoko nodded.

"Good," the patriarch said, "Kyoko-chan, my name is Saijo Ryousuke, the one next to you is my wife Aiko, to my left is my second son Masao, his wife Sei and my grandson Miroku. Do you understand?"

Kyoko nodded her head once again.

"Now you might be wondering where my first son is right?"

A nod.

"Well, he died you see, about two years ago, he got into a car accident. You probably want to know why I am telling you this, no?"

"Yes sir."

"You see, about six/seven years ago he came home one day and told his mother and I that he was going to marry this commoner woman, even if it meant that he would no longer be my heir. Of course, I got mad and told him to prove it. And he did, he left, he married her too, didn't even come back. Then six years ago he came back saying that he was sorry that he left us like he did, that he loved us more than anything. He told us about how he got married to that woman, how she was pregnant, and how three weeks before he came, his wife left a letter for him saying that the baby was gone. He was so distraught, he cried like I've never seen before, he begged us to help him find his wife. And we did, we were family, and nothing was going to change that. Unfortunately we couldn't find the woman. And like that six years passed. Kyoko-chan, would you like to know what my son's name was?"

Kyoko nodded.

Ryousuke smiled softly, "my son's name was Saijo Makoto, though he liked to pretend it was Mogami Makoto. Do you understand what this means Kyoko-chan?"

She slowly shook her head, no she didn't, why was this man telling her a story about his son who died? Why did his son have the same name as her father? Something clicked inside of her as pieces of the puzzle started to fit together. With wide eyes she looked at the man in front of her, then the woman to her right, than back to the man once again.

"D-do-does this...does this mean that I-I I'm..."

She felt a warm palm on her cheek, "Yes Kyoko-chan, this mean that you are my granddaughter. You are Saijo Kyoko, Heiress to the Saijo Group."

~!~~~!~~!~~~!~!~!~~!~!~!~!~!~!~

So...yeah...please review and tell me what you think! you know the drill, more reviews=faster update!


End file.
